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PENTAGON CHANGES SECURITY CLEARANCE QUESTION ON
MENTAL HEALTH -- "There was no reason to be
concerned
about seeking mental health counseling from a
security
clearance standpoint. Answering yes has never
been
a sole reason...for denying a security
clearance."
This entire concept is bogus.
The fact that the mental health question
will disappear means absolutely nothing.
The system will remain the same. And, the
Pentagon admits that in the stories below.
So, why all the fuss?
Because it makes it LOOK LIKE they are changing
the system to be more fair to those seeking security clearances.
Nothing is further from the truth...but, it makes for good public
relations.
We have two stories...first is the DoD
version...the second is from the AP.
First story here...
http://www.defenseli
nk.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49735
Story below:
-------------------------
DoD Changes Security Clearance Question on Mental
Health
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – The Defense Department will change a question on its
long-standing security clearance form referencing an applicant’s mental
health history because officials believe it is needlessly preventing some
people from seeking counseling.
The Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions, asks
the applicant to acknowledge mental health care in the past seven years.
It does not ask for treatment details if the care involved only marital,
family, or grief counseling, not related to violence by the applicant,
unless the treatment was court-ordered.
Officials said surveys have shown that troops feel if they answer “yes” to
the question, they could jeopardize their security clearances, required
for many occupations in the military.
As of April 18, applicants no longer have to acknowledge care under the
same conditions, nor if the care was related to service in a military
combat zone. The revised wording has been distributed to the services and
will be attached to the cover of the questionnaire. The revised question
will not show up printed on the forms until the department depletes its
pre-printed stock later this year, officials said.
DoD security officials said no one has been
denied a security clearance based solely on the fact they received mental
health counseling, but the perception that receiving care would jeopardize
a security clearance, combined with the stigma of having to acknowledge
the care on the form, may have been preventing some from receiving needed
care.
“Our people see it as a major blemish on their record. It is one of the
highest reasons given on these surveys for why people don’t seek mental
health care,” David S. C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and
readiness, said. “We want to be sure that our people are in good shape
both mentally and physically.”
About 1 million security forms are submitted annually within the Defense
Department. Of those, less than 1 percent receives unfavorable
determinations based solely on mental health issues, Rebecca Allen, deputy
director of DoD security, said. Of those denied, factors besides simply
receiving counseling were considered, she said.
“The perception was unfounded. There was no reason to be concerned about
seeking mental health counseling from a security clearance standpoint,”
she said. “Answering yes has never been a sole reason … for denying a
security clearance. It would be the resulting information that would
develop during the adjudication phase that may … result in an unfavorable
determination.”
But an Army Inspector General’s report last year said soldiers were
hesitant to get counseling because of the fear of losing their security
clearances. A recent Rand Corporation survey also supported those claims,
officials said.
When determining a person’s ability to manage classified information,
though, officials consider the “whole person.” There has never been from
the security aspect a stigma associated with seeking mental health
counseling, Allen said.
“We view that as a very positive measure,” Allen said. “There is nothing
wrong with seeking assistance for a mental issue, just as there is nothing
wrong with seeking assistance for a physical issue.
“There is every reason to seek treatment when you need it, … and it will
not be a bar to your successfully receiving a security clearance,” Allen
said.
Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs,
said the stigma of receiving mental health care comes in many forms within
the military.
“One is that people are afraid they are going to lose friends. They’re
afraid they’re gong to lose their chance at promotion. [Or that] if you
show weakness will you be a good leader? Will people follow? Or will you
be seen as someone who is out to just get a desk job?” he said.
But, Casscells said, mental health counseling is for all ranks, and has
not stopped the progression of many senior military officials.
“We’ve got guys here with one, two, three stars on their shoulders who
have had counseling. And they feel they’ve benefited by it,” Casscells
said. “It’s your duty to do that. It’s your opportunity to grow as a
person. It’s your opportunity to prove yourself as a leader.”
-------------------------
Second story here...
http://ap.google.com/article/A
LeqM5jR80fyXWKdH2cTZVmwWBL45MVpbQD90CHJEO2
Story below:
-------------------------
Officials say Pentagon easing security clearance
screening
By PAULINE JELINEK
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. troops won't have to reveal all their mental health
counseling when applying for security clearances under a change the
Pentagon hopes will ease the stigma of seeking help for combat stress, The
Associated Press has learned.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to announce the new policy Thursday,
according to several defense officials.
Thousands of troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with
war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. But many
hesitate to get psychiatric care because they fear that could cost them
their security clearances, harm their careers and embarrass them before
commanders and comrades.
Gates is trying to remove one impediment, revising a question about mental
health treatment that appears on the form required by the Office of
Personnel Management, the agency that does the majority of investigations
for security clearances to military and civilian federal workers,
officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the
announcement was pending.
Currently, Question 21 on the form asks applicants whether they have
consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If so,
they are asked to list the names, addresses and dates they saw the doctor
or therapist, unless it was for marriage or grief counseling and not
related to violent behavior.
The amended question Gates has approved is less stringent. It essentially
means troops would not have to worry about therapy they got for
difficulties caused by their wartime tours of duty or other missions, said
four officials familiar with the revision.
"It is progress, I think it will help," said Paul Riechoff, executive
director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. "This needs to be
followed by a mental health campaign — not just for service members but
for their families as well. But I really do think it's a significant
evolution."
Gates is to announce the change in the security clearance application at
Fort Bliss, Texas, where he will visit a recovery center for troops with
post-traumatic stress disorder, officials said.
Because the revision is only for military applicants and the question
remains unchanged for other federal employees, the form hasn't been
altered. Defense applicants will receive a packet including the
application, the substitute question and a memo explaining the change and
encouraging troops to seek treatment, three officials said.
The Pentagon says the perception of stigma for security applicants is far
worse than the reality.
The most recently released data show less than 1 percent of some 800,000
people investigated for clearances in 2006 were rejected on the sole issue
of their mental health profiles.
The investigation weighs a number of factors about the applicant,
favorable and unfavorable, officials say. Troops can be rejected for a
clearance if they've been convicted and imprisoned, are addicted to any
controlled substance, have been discharged dishonorably from the service
or are mentally incompetent.
Up to 20 percent of the more than 1.6 million who have served in Iraq and
Afghanistan are estimated to have mental health problems, the Defense
Department says. Though officials haven't released the number of troops
diagnosed, a yearlong private Rand Corp. study estimated that roughly
300,000 may be affected.
Successive government and private studies have found roughly half of those
who need help are seeking it.
The Department of Veterans Affairs says that about 120,000 of the 300,000
Iraq and Afghanistan vets it has seen for various injuries and problems
have been diagnosed with symptoms of mental health difficulties.
Revising the security clearance procedure is just the latest in a string
of efforts aimed at changing military attitudes on mental health:
_ The Army last year held special sessions to teach 800,000 troops how to
recognize concussions and mental problems in themselves and their buddies.
_ The Army and Navy have put mental health professionals into primary care
centers — rather than setting them off in separate locations — so troops
can go for appointments discreetly.
_ The Navy is quadrupling to 30 from seven the number of special mental
health teams embedded with Marine Corps units.
"What we are finding ... is that if we embed mental health professionals
with our men and women on a daily basis, stigma goes down," the Navy's
surgeon general, Vice Adm. Adam Robinson, said in response to an e-mail
query. "This is because the mental health professionals become part of the
unit. They become your friend in the mess hall that you see around that
makes them more accessible."
Officials say they see signs the stigma has been slowly easing over the
years, though it's still believed to be worse among those who need
treatment.
Last year, 29 percent of troops in Iraq who had symptoms of mental
problems said they feared that seeking help would hurt their careers, down
from 34 percent the previous year, according to an Army survey of more
than 3,000 people.
Nearly half said they would be seen as weak, down from 53 percent the
previous year, and nearly 52 percent feared members of their unit might
treat them differently, down from nearly 58 percent.
The majority of troops who get help are able to get better and to remain
on the job.
The overwhelming majority of troops and their spouses recognize that
mental illness can be successfully treated, according to a survey released
Wednesday by the American Psychiatric Association, done online and from a
much smaller sample size of about 350 people.
Still, many resist counseling until their symptoms worsen. Some go
secretly to civilian therapists and pay for it themselves rather than
going to military counselors.
"There's a pride and a bravado," said 1st Sgt. Andrew Brown, an Army
reservist of Harrisburg, Pa., who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic
stress disorder. "The feeling is that you are going to tough it out,
cowboy up, get it done, suck it up — all the catch phrases that we teach
young soldiers."
Ending up with nightmares, flashbacks or uncontrollable fear can be hard
to square with that self-image.
Dr. Paul Ragan, an associate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt
University, saw one side of the problem in his days as a Navy psychiatrist
at a military psychiatric ward.
"I can't tell you how many times I heard from a gunny sergeant or a major
who said, 'Look this guy's just weak, he just needs a kick in the rear,'"
said Ragan, who retired from the military in the 1990s but still treats
veterans as a civilian.
While that philosophy still exists to some extent, more commanders in
today's military are trained to be able to spot mental problems, said
Brown, who speaks on the issue for the IAVA.
"Young soldiers carry a lot of baggage, thinking 'combat is glorious and
heroic,' or 'I'll be the first kid on my block to have a terrorist kill
under my belt,'" he said.
On the Net:
* National Security Questionnaire:
http://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf
* Army battlefront survey:
http://tinyurl.com/38zfmq
-------------------------
posted by Larry
Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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